Earthdawn - Latest Preview Available

[MongooseMatt]

We have just posted the latest preview for the third edition of Earthdawn, available in your local stores in late July. Covering Skills, Talents and Knacks, you can grab it from a direct link here;

Mongoose Publishing : For All Your Gaming Needs ...

You can also download the previous two previews!

 

[physicscarp]

Matt,

Thanks for the previews! I'm really looking forward to this and the other results of your pairing with RedBrick.

Will you guys have copies of the new Earthdawn books for sale at GenCon?

 

[MongooseMatt]

Matt,

Thanks for the previews! I'm really looking forward to this and the other results of your pairing with RedBrick.

Will you guys have copies of the new Earthdawn books for sale at GenCon?

Unless something really tragic happens, yes!

 

[Knightfall]

What system is 3rd Edition? Is it under the GSL? Is it a new game system?

 

[Scurvy_Platypus]

Unless I'm horribly off the mark, 3rd ed is continuing to use the Earthdawn system. It uses multiple dice types, somewhat like Savage Worlds and Cortex do. The system itself has been around for a long time; like Tunnels & Trolls, Earthdawn is one of those games that's mostly flown under people's radar for a long time, but has kept chugging along.

However, there is also another project in the pipeline which is to bring the Earthdawn setting to a 4e audience. The project is called Age of Legend. The link to it is here:
RedBrick Limited

I've got no idea what the timeline is for Age of Legend, but it's probably what you're after.

Personally, I hope the split works for them. That way Earthdawn fans don't feel like they've been abandoned and can continue enjoying the game they know and love, and in the meantime folks that are all into 4E can still get to experience Earthdawn using their own favorite system.

 

[Jan van Leyden]

What system is 3rd Edition? Is it under the GSL? Is it a new game system?

The version history of Earthdawn is a tad complicated... After FASA dropped the line, a company called Living Room Games obtained a license which didn't cover the reprinting of older FASA titles. So they published a handful of original products - at least one of these based on FASA notes - and a rulebook called Earthdawn 2nd edition.

Several years later, Redbrick obtained another license, which this time included the rights to re-publish old material. They took all the stuff from FASA, collated and reorganised it with only minor modifications into two massive (500+ pages) volumes available as PDF and POD: Earthdawn Classic.

So we had two different version of the game available in parallel. When POD prices and shipping by Lulu went through the roof - which had a big effect because Germany remains one of the top markets for Earthdawn - Redbrick examined other options and found one with Mongoose's label Flaming Cobra.

To make it clear to the customers that this version is the current one, it will be called Earthdawn 3rd edition. It is based on Earthdawn Classic (and thus FASA's old Earthdawn), again incorporating small changes mainly to make it less cumbersome, streamline it a bit, and remove some inbalances.

AFAIK the system will not be open and not use the GSL. The also announced Age of Legends will be published using the GSL, being a setting book for D&D. It is a different beast than Earthdawn 3rd edition.

 

[Knightfall]

However, there is also another project in the pipeline which is to bring the Earthdawn setting to a 4e audience. The project is called Age of Legend. The link to it is here:
RedBrick Limited

I've got no idea what the timeline is for Age of Legend, but it's probably what you're after.

If it's good, I might take a look at it. I'm not a fan of 4e, but if the book is well done then I might consider it.

However...

The version history of Earthdawn is a tad complicated... After FASA dropped the line, a company called Living Room Games obtained a license which didn't cover the reprinting of older FASA titles. So they published a handful of original products - at least one of these based on FASA notes - and a rulebook called Earthdawn 2nd edition.

I have that book.

 

[Knightfall]

To make it clear to the customers that this version is the current one, it will be called Earthdawn 3rd edition. It is based on Earthdawn Classic (and thus FASA's old Earthdawn), again incorporating small changes mainly to make it less cumbersome, streamline it a bit, and remove some inbalances.

Hmm, it sounds like 3rd Edition is the version I'll want to check out. I really liked the original Earthdawn.